The New York Islanders earned the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference by beating the New Jersey Devils 3-2 in a shootout on Sunday to complete a sweep of their final four games.
The win triggered a wild on-ice celebration by the Islanders, who were seemingly out of the Stanley Cup hunt one week ago. They regrouped in front of third-string goalie Wade Dubielewicz to edge out the Toronto Maple Leafs for the last playoff berth to be decided on the final day of the regular season.
Toronto finished its season on Saturday night with a narrow 6-5 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.
The Maple Leafs had 91 points, one more than the Islanders.
Despite squandering a 2-0 lead, the Islanders regrouped to beat the Devils in the shootout. Miroslav Satan and Viktor Kozlov, the first two shooters, scored for New York and Dubielewicz made poke saves on Brian Gionta and Sergei Brylin to send the Islanders surging into the postseason.
Stars 3, Blackhawks 2
In Dallas, Mike Modano scored his 507th career goal with 3:49 left to extend his record for US-born players.
With the game even at 2 and the teams 4-on-4, Modano skated to the net along the right side boards and beat Blackhawks goalie Nikolai Khabibulin after a pass from Philippe Boucher for Modano's 22nd goal of the season.
Dallas went 12-2-2 in its last 16 games to finish with 107 points and wrap up the sixth Western Conference playoff seed. The Sharks won the tiebreaker over the Stars with one more victory to earn the fifth seed in the Western Conference.
Flyers 4, Sabres 3
In Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Flyers ended their worst season in 40 years by denying Buffalo a chance to finish with the highest point total in its history.
Mike Knuble and Mike Richards scored third-period goals to end the NHL-best Sabres' bid to earn the most points in team history.
The loss was only an inconvenient blip for the top-seeded Sabres as they head into the postseason with the best record in the NHL and home-ice advantage throughout the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Avalanche 6, Flames 3
In Denver, Joe Sakic scored the go-ahead goal in the third period, giving him 100 points for the first time since 2001 and leading Colorado in a game rendered meaningless by the Avalanche's loss 24 hours earlier to Nashville.
It was the first time in the Avalanche's 11 seasons in Denver that the team played a game with the playoffs out of their grasp.
This game was setting up to be an all-or-nothing affair until the Avalanche blew a third-period lead on Saturday night and lost to Nashville, when former Av Peter Forsberg broke Colorado's hearts again, assisting on the go-ahead goal that would eliminate the Avalanche from the playoff race.
Colorado's loss to the Predators handed the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference to the Flames, who lost to lowly Edmonton at home.
Coyotes 3, Canucks 1
In Glendale, Ariz., Derek Morris scored the go-ahead goal three seconds into a power play at 12:12 of the first period to lift Phoenix.
Jeremy Roenick added what might have been his final NHL goal, an empty-netter, with 21.2 seconds to play.
Goalie Curtis Joseph and Roenick both drew standing ovations from the crowd after the final goal. Roenick, whose goal was his 11th of the season, said he will decide this summer whether to retire from the game.
The Canucks won the Northwest Division title with a victory at San Jose on Saturday.
Vancouver, who set franchise records for wins and points, start the playoffs at home against Dallas tomorrow.
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